Atlantis Astronaut Ready For Today's Backflip

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. — The nine-minute maneuver will allow for a careful inspection of the orbiting shuttle.

He flew combat missions in the Persian Gulf War and classified assignments as a test pilot.

Today, astronaut Rick Sturckow gets to guide space shuttle Atlantis through a maneuver that's been done only four times.

Pausing about 600 feet from the International Space Station, the Marine colonel is to put Atlantis in a slow backflip that takes nine minutes. All the while, station residents will snap more than 300 digital photos of the ship's underbelly as they float in the outpost's windows.

The images are another tool that NASA will use to make certain Atlantis' heat-protective exterior is in good shape for the ship's return through the atmosphere. The somersault has become standard since the 2003 Columbia disaster.

After the maneuver, Sturckow is to dock Atlantis at the station shortly after 3:30 p.m. NASA managers say the ship appears to have reached orbit in great shape.

"It looks very, very clean," said John Shannon, chairman of the team overseeing Atlantis' flight from Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Shannon said further analysis was needed of an insulating blanket that came loose on the left side of Atlantis. In photos, a 4-inch section of the blanket is curling up, instead of remaining taut against the orbiter.

Blankets have come loose in worse fashion on previous flights, Shannon said, and those shuttles returned without damage. Nonetheless, he said, engineers will do a detailed analysis to determine whether it poses a danger.

"There's not a great deal of concern over it right now," Shannon said.

In addition to the blanket, he said, further study is needed of a 6-inch chunk of foam that came off an oxygen line on the external fuel tank during launch. NASA detected the missing piece in photographs and imagery collected as the tank was jettisoned from the shuttle in orbit. It's not clear when the piece came off or whether it hit the orbiter. *